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This article examines the effects of the child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC) on paid child-care use and maternal labor supply. Using restricted-use data from the National Household Education Surveys Program, I construct simulated CDCTC benefits. Then, taking advantage of policy variation from year to year, across and within states, and over time, I employ a parameterized difference-in-differences approach to examine the effects of the CDCTC. On average, a $100 increase in CDCTC benefits is associated with a 5.5 percent increase in paid center-based care participation, a 4.7 percent increase in paid nonrelative care participation, and a 1.5 percent increase in maternal employment for the full sample. Subgroup analyses reveal that policy expansion may result in heterogeneous responses in paid child-care participation depending on mothers' marital status. This project provides important policy implications for the expansion of CDCTC, particularly expansions included in the American Rescue Plan of 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child allowance (CA) in South Korea was first introduced in September 2018. CA provides a monthly allowance to children from birth to age 5. To date, existing studies on the effects of CA in Korea have focused mainly on household economic outcomes. The current study is the first to examine the effect of CA on maternal physical and mental health, measured by self-reported health status, depression, and life satisfaction. We use nationally representative data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) from 2017 to 2018. The analytic sample consists of 772 Korean mothers whose youngest child is between age 2 and age 7. Taking advantage of an exogenous policy change and the age eligibility of the policy, we employ a difference-in-regression-discontinuities (DRD) strategy to identify the effects of CA on self-reported health status, depression, and life satisfaction. Overall, we find suggestive evidence that the introduction of CA contributed to reducing depression while improving self-reported health and life satisfaction. In particular, the policy reform had a significant effect on life satisfaction, showing that CA improves life satisfaction by 0.497 points. Results suggest that CA can improve both physical and mental health for eligible mothers. Such findings are indicative of a causal link between income and health. There has been a recent political movement to raise the age threshold of CA to up to age 18 to cover older children and increase benefit levels. Our findings provide important policy implications for the political discussion on CA expansion. • The current study is the first attempt to examine the effect of child allowance in Korea on maternal health. • We find suggestive evidence that CA contributes to better maternal health outcomes. • Given a recent political discussion on expanding CA, our findings provide important policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of family trajectories during childhood in explaining inequalities by maternal education in children's math and reading skills using harmonized, longitudinal, and nationally representative surveys, which follow children over the course of primary and lower secondary school in four high‐income countries (England, France, Germany, and the United States). As single parenthood and family transitions are more likely among less educated parents and are associated with fewer resources for children, we explore whether growing up outside a stable two‐parent family mediates educational inequalities in math and reading scores. Results show a strong educational gradient in family trajectories in the four countries, but this varies by child age and by country. Children who experience a family transition record lower test scores, although the magnitude differs by the type of postseparation arrangements. Overall, family trajectories are strongly associated with children's math and reading scores but, because of the importance of selectivity in family trajectories, they play only a modest role in explaining the skills gaps by maternal education, considerably less than determinants such as income. The penalties associated with not living within a stable two‐parent family are always larger in the United States and England than in France and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There are significant cross-country differences in socio-economic gradients in later childhood and adulthood overweight/obesity; few studies assess whether this cross-national variation is evident from early childhood. Furthermore, the role of childcare in explaining overweight/obesity gradients might vary across countries, given differences in access, quality and heterogeneity within. Additionally, childcare is linked to parental characteristics such as maternal employment. The interplay between childcare and employment in producing early overweight/obesity gradients has received little attention, and might vary cross-nationally. Methods Using harmonized data from six high-quality, large datasets, we explore the variation in gradients in early overweight/obesity (at age 3–4 years old) by parental education across several high-income countries (USA, UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan). We then assess whether differential formal group care use attenuates some of these gradients, and whether this varies across maternal employment. Results Gradients in early childhood overweight/obesity by parental education are evident across several developed countries. Countries with higher overall prevalence of early overweight/obesity did not have the largest inequalities across education groups. The contribution of formal group care to producing these gradients varied across countries and across maternal employment status. Conclusion Early childhood inequalities in overweight/obesity are pervasive across developed countries, as noted for older children and adults. However, mechanisms producing these gradients vary across national contexts. Our study shows that, given the right context, quality childcare and maternal employment can successfully support healthy weight trajectories and not contribute (or even reduce) social inequalities in early overweight/obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether inaccurate teacher judgements of primary school student achievement correlate with students' gender and whether such bias contributes to gender achievement gaps in language and mathematics. Our study used ex-post harmonised longitudinal data from England, Germany, and the US. We observed domain-specific teacher judgement bias with a positive bias for girls in the language domain and for boys in mathematics. Furthermore, biased teacher judgements partly mediated the effect of gender on later achievement. Despite these common findings, cross-country differences emerged in the extent of teacher judgement bias as well as its mediation of gender achievement gaps. We conclude that this is a topic of relevance across national contexts and where the institutional and societal setting needs more attention in future research. • Above and beyond achievement, teacher overrate girls in language, underrate them in mathematics. • Teacher judgement bias predicts later student achievement net of earlier achievement. • Teacher judgement bias contributes to gender achievement gaps. • Despite these common findings, cross-country differences emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood Body Mass Index (BMI) are becoming increasingly more pronounced across the world. Although countries differ in the direction and strength of these inequalities, cross-national comparative research on this topic is rare. This paper draws on harmonized longitudinal cohort data from four wealthy countries—Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US)—to 1) map cross-country differences in the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in childhood BMI, and 2) to examine cross-country differences in the role of three energy-balance-related behaviors—physical activity, screen time, and breakfast consumption—in explaining these inequalities. Children were aged 5–7 at our first timepoint and were followed up at age 8–11. We used data from the German National Educational Panel Study, the Dutch Generation R study, the UK Millennium Cohort Study and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal-Kindergarten Study. All countries revealed significant inequalities in childhood BMI. The US stood out in having the largest inequalities. Overall, inequalities between children with low versus medium educated parents were smaller than those between children with high versus medium educated parents. The role of energy-balance-related behaviors in explaining inequalities in BMI was surprisingly consistent. Across countries, physical activity did not, while screen time and breakfast consumption did play a role. The only exception was that breakfast consumption did not play a role in the US. Cross-country differences emerged in the relative contribution of each behavior in explaining inequalities in BMI: Breakfast consumption was most important in the UK, screen time explained most in Germany and the US, and breakfast consumption and screen time were equally important in the Netherlands. Our findings suggest that what constitutes the most effective policy intervention differs across countries and that these should target both children from medium as well as low educated families. • All countries showed substantial socioeconomic inequalities in childhood BMI. • In all countries, inequalities in BMI steepen over course of primary school. • Protective factors among the most advantaged seem to mainly drive inequalities. • Across most countries, underlying mechanisms for inequalities in BMI are similar. • The relative contribution of each mechanism to BMI inequalities differs per country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]